Big USF plans include a wagering app, eSports

I had a chance to sit down with the crew from USFantasy and they have some big things on the horizon.

First thing to discuss that is very exciting is the USFantasy App. It has all the features you’d expect from a phone app. Every sport is on there, the functionally is super easy and it is quick to place your bets.

My favorite part was, of course, being able to see the pools right on the app, which will allow you to know just how much to push your bet. I look at this being a game changer and it will allow people to make bets far easier than going to the sportsbook ticket counter.

Timeline for this is around the beginning of the NFL season with trials hopefully underway in August. Also for football season will be the return of the Million Dollar Seven, the NFL Pick-7. Keep your eyes out for eSports betting, as well, coming soon.

Vegas Golden Knights

I am beyond excited for the 2017-18 season when OUR NHL team hits the ice. It’s still surreal to me to have a professional sports team in Vegas. The expansion draft list is now available to all the public and the Knights GM George McPhee is hard at work debating, wheeling and dealing with the other NHL teams for draft picks or to pick a player then flip them to another team. Lots of options and phone calls for McPhee.

Tuesday the jersey will be revealed along with the rest of the new Adidas NHL Jerseys, this being the first year of the NHL’s deal with the designer. At 5:30 p.m. there will be a Golden Knights jersey display and photo op at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.

Wednesday at 5 p.m. the picks will be announced at T-Mobile Arena which will coincide with the NHL Awards Show. Friday there will be an NHL Entry Draft Party at T-Mobile starting at 3 p.m. that is free to the public as the Knights select their first batch of rookies.

Boxing Ugly

My most beloved sport took a pair of black eyes in the past week. First the circus was finally setup as Ringmaster Floyd “All I care about is Money” Mayweather signed to fight “The Confused Lion” Conor McGregor on Aug. 26 for a ridiculous amount of cash.

This town of Vegas was built on suckers and in case his 49-0 record hasn’t told you, Mayweather is no sucker. McGregor on the other hand, what does he have to lose? He gets embarrassed by a Hall of Fame Boxer? Who cares, he’s NOT A BOXER! McGregor is a great showman and business man, which is why with a professional boxing record of 0-0, he will make $100M-plus for this fight. Just four years ago, they say he cashed a $250 welfare check. Amazing story and congrats to him.

However, this is not good for boxing, it’s yet another fleecing of the public by Mayweather, who doesn’t care about entertaining you. He lives and dies by letting other people (judges) say he scored enough points to win. That was never what boxing was built on. The promoters, commissions and inside dealings have ruined the sport to a point where even a fan since the age of 5 is getting exhausted bothering with it.

The other black eye came from Ward-Kovalev 2, which was supposed to be a bright spot last Saturday night, but the fight ended in controversy as a low blow was ruled a legal punch and the referee, a usually dynamite Tony Weeks, stopped the fight thinking it was a body punch.

One small bright spot: Manny Pacquiao is fighting on ESPN live on July 1. While his level of opposition isn’t great, this is the first of many planned Top Rank shows on ESPN or ABC. For boxing to recover we have to start seeing the stars of the sport grow on larger platforms and not PPV. But we need quality matchups, better judging, officiating, and please for the love of God, replay! The first move should be giving more credit to the man initiating the action. The guy backing up really has to go to work to win the round in my opinion. Hopefully this is the beginning of turning a small corner for the sport. I will sit and hope this snowball rolls into an avalanche. But I won’t hold my breath.